Far beyond Equestria's borders, within the towering steepled walls of the Griffonian empire’s capital, a prodigal son returned to little fanfare and a small greeting party. The griffon was young, and being several years younger than his older sister, it meant that his title as prince was utterly worthless. He growled to himself as he walked through the castle’s torchlit halls. “Not for long…” His eyes flicked to the thick leather satchel that clung to his protective cold weather clothing. Inside it lay the key to everything he had ever desired.

His name was Prince Carolus Rex, son of Emperor Wilhelm and Empress Ophelia, and second heir to the throne. He was fast, cunning, and strong. He could beat any opponent that was sent his way in a contest of arms, and even with his young age, his list of achievements was impressive. But, despite all of his work, all of his sweat and toil, he would only ever be seen as the spare. One heir, one spare, as his uncle had once said. The thought set his teeth on edge and saw his talons raking across the stone of the hallway. His eyes flicked to his satchel, and for a moment all he wanted to do was to pull the artefact from inside it and wear it. For he knew that the moment he put that mask on, everything would change.

“I will refrain…” he muttered to himself as he patted the satchel with care. The satchel hadn't left his side during his return from the north, and not one soul had seen inside it, save for himself. Of course, the expedition dig team had seen it, but they were no longer a worry that crossed his mind. As Carolus walked through the halls, he nearly jumped out of his feathers as Gilda's retainer and bodyguard slipped from the shadows beside him like a phantom.

“You're home early, lad.”

Carolus bit his tongue to keep from growling at Ada. He didn't want her sticking her ugly little snout in his plans, and he knew damn well she would if he gave her any kind of inkling. “Yes, Ada.” He started, and his mind churned out an excuse. “There was an accident, so I have returned in the meantime.” It was a half truth, but a truth none the less.

Ada lifted her brows in brief disbelief as she nodded. “Right. Emperor said he was chatting with your team lead. Must have been some accident.” The woman eyed him subtly, and it made his feathers crawl with disgust.

“Eight good workers dead. I would say so, yes.” He answered a little too stiffly for his own liking, but it seemed as though the strange human woman had bought it at face value.

“Righto. Emperor wantsa word with you.” She moved around him, her eyes staying on him like a predators.

Carolus didn't need to hide his sneer as she circled around behind him. “Of course father wants a word. Thank you, Ada.” He began walking away quickly, but his senses remained on high alert for if Ada began following him. Despite his alertness, he couldn't make out her footfalls in the slightest. Ada had spent three months hunting a dangerous human serial killer in the capital, one who had completely evaded local forces and had left a trail of mangled bodies in his wake. He knew that if he slipped up around her before the time was right, everything would go wrong. She was the kind of human to hunt its prey until the prey collapsed of exhaustion, and his machinations were no different. Casting a worrying look over his shoulder, Carolus let out a soft sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he didn't spot the woman in the hall behind him.

His father's chambers were before him, and after taking a moment to compose himself and to shift his satchel further to the back, Carolus opened the doors and walked inside. “Father, I have returned.”

Emperor Wilhelm stood before his fireplace, his talons laced behind his back as he stood on his hind legs. He turned his head ever so slightly as Carolus spoke. Falling to all fours, Wilhelm still stood tall over Carolus as he treaded over and smiled. “My boy, I am so glad to see you well.” Carolus grunted as his father hugged him tightly and threatened to crush his spine.

With a grunt, Carolus was finally released, allowing him to smooth his disturbed feathers and fur. “I am well enough father. The flight back took much longer than it had any right to.”

Nodding in agreement, Wilhelm carefully lowered himself into his favourite chair and sighed. “Foreman Jolz tells me the temple you found is quite extensive, and disturbing.”

Sitting down next to his father before the crackling fire, Carolus thought hard on how to word his excitement. “Indeed it was. It must be several thousand years old, possibly predating the Equestrians.” He fought to keep from growling the name in disgust. “It is a shame the central chamber collapsed when it did, there were so many peculiar artefacts…”

“You didn't happen to… take, anything from the chamber, right Carolus?” Wilhelm turned his full attention toward his son, which made the smaller griffon want to fidget over the lie he was about to tell.

“No father. While the ruins were intriguing, I deferred to Jolz.”

Wilhelm nodded slowly as he stroked his chin with his talons. “Jolz tells me the men feel uneasy in the ruins. He says that he believes they may have broken a magical seal upon entering them.”

Snorting hotly, Carolus rolled his claws as he made a show of relaxing into the chair. “The men are superstitious father. The collapse was because those fools didn't use enough load bearing posts while excavating.”

With his beak opening to push the matter further, the Emperor was interrupted by a small flash of purple dragon fire and a sizable folder flopping onto his waiting side table. He turned his attentions away from his son, and picked up the heavy folder marked Shield. He began flipping through it, and his brows slowly crept up into his fringe. “By Rohk….” He let out an incredulous laugh as he continued to flip through. “Where in the world did you get the idea to make this Celestia?

“What is it father? What have the Equestrians done now?” Carolus edged forward in his seat.

Wilhelm set the thick folder down and smiled as he shook his head. “They've raised the bar in military engineering.” He huffed in mock annoyance before letting out a shrill whistle that immediately brought a guard. He pushed the folder toward the guard. “Take this to Kasink. I want production to begin immediately, as per our agreement with Princess Celestia.” The guard nodded and took off with the folder tucked protectively against his breastplate.

Doing his best to hide his dislike for being ignored and having information withheld from him, Carolus pushed forward again. “What is this about father? What agreement?”

His father simply smiled as he leaned back into his chair. “We're now allies with Equestria, and soon to be several other nations.”

Shock struck like a load of bricks in the young prince's mind. “...Allies, father? We're… allied with those pacifists?” He nearly spat the word out in anger, but managed to refrain.

Annoyance settled across Wilhelm's features as he looked toward his son. “Carolus, we have been allies with the Equestrians for almost forty years. We are now entering into an official military alliance as per the pancontinental accord. Whether you believe them to be inept on the field or not does not matter. They are our allies.” Wilhelm pulled out a crystal decanter of fine brandy, and poured two glasses. He offered the second to his son, who looked away from the glass as if it were offensive. Wilhelm made a strong gesture with the glass and his tone came out as unquestioning. “Drink, Carolus. To peace.”

Forcing a thin smile that barely managed to hide his blatant thoughts, Carolus carefully picked up the offered glass and swirled the contents thoughtfully. “With luck hopefully the Equestrians will be of some use to us.” He held up his glass in a mock toast. “To peace.” The pair drank, and Carolus quietly excused himself from his father's presence. Without another word he turned away and strode out of the room as swiftly as his legs could carry him. The Emperor did not call after him, nor did he follow.

______________________________________________________________________

Back in Canterlot, Flitter paced inside her room anxiously as she waited for Princess Luna to send for her. A day had passed since she'd returned from her evidence hunt within the DRMSI building, but she had yet to do anything with the recording talisman. She had gotten hung up heavily on her own worries regarding what she had found, and especially how she was going to deal with it all. A big part of her wanted to hunt down Poppy and confront her, to force her to confess what she'd done to Jack, for the recording talisman. Of course, Flitter couldn't exactly do that, because while she thought Poppy a vile, disgusting mare, what Poppy had done wasn't exactly illegal.

Before Flitter could think further on the issue, a knock sounded against her door and a voice echoed behind it. “Lieutenant Falenas? Princess Luna requests your presence in the meeting hall.” Flitter's heart skipped with worry for a moment. Why the meeting hall?

“S-sure… thank you. “ Despite her worries, Flitter straightened her uniform and began the short trot to the meeting hall. Upon entering, her heart sank even further as she saw Princess Celestia sitting next to Princess Luna. Two more ponies were present, the first being Captain Hard Tac, and another familiar face. Dr. Sable sat abreast from Princess Celestia, and seemed to brighten visibly when she recognised him.

Princess Celestia nodded to Flitter before speaking. “Good morning, Flitter, thank you for coming to the meeting so quickly. The stallion next to Luna is Captain Hard Tac, and the stallion on my right is Doctor Sable, one of our Royal psychologists. We'll be reviewing the evidence you've found regarding Jack.”

“Good to see you again Flitter, you look better.” Sable began, a light smile on his features. “And a Lieutenant as well. Very impressive.”

Doing her best to keep herself kempt and professional, Flitter lent Sable a small smile and a nod. “It's very good to see you again Doctor.”

Hard Tac grunted as he adjusted his seat placement slightly. “Can we get on with this? I'm helping Jack build the new obstacle course and I don't really feel like listening to passive flirting.”

Despite herself, Flitter felt her cheeks begin to flush. “When I found the DRMSI talisman control room, I got as much of the evidence as I could. It's… bad.” She hoofed the talisman over to Luna, before taking an offered seat next to Hard Tac.

The Captain seemed quite displeased toward the entire ordeal. He turned his head toward Flitter and spoke quietly as Luna fiddled with the talisman and started the recording, but with the sound on full. “I don't see the point of this. Sure, Jack's got issues, but so does almost every other soldier under my command. This witch hunt is useless.”

Turning her head toward the Captain, Luna cleared her throat when she began to play back the recording and watched as the humans in the enclosure wandered aimlessly. “This isn't a witch-hunt, Captain. We want to help him, but to help we have to know what's-” Luna's words froze in her throat as the abomination meandered into the projected image. The entire group went silent and watched as the infantile horror slaughtered the humans present and giggled merrily before Jack stabbed it in the neck. The strength and ferocity of the abomination was impressive to say the least, but it finally fell to violent predatory teamwork. Doctor Sable looked ill as Jack turned it's featureless face into bony mush with the stone. The princesses began to quietly discuss between each other, before Hard Tac blurted out.

“What the fuck was that thing?”

Princess Celestia shook her head slowly and sighed as Jack was hogtied in his straightjacket and hauled off. “For once… I am pleased that Jack killed something.” She trailed off and fell silent as Jack ended up in Forge's lab. Her features began to twist with anger that she held in check heavily. “This hippogriff wasn't present when the guards arrived, neither in the bodies or survivors. I would have recognised him from this if he had been.” She frowned heavily as Jack screamed in agony and writhed on the operating table. “When we find him, there will be a very lengthy sentence for inequine treatment of humans…”

Shaking her head as Maltenics saved Jack and had him transferred back to his solitary cell, Flitter looked toward Luna. “He won't be the only one.” The group looked toward Flitter, before their attentions were returned to the recording as Poppy entered. As the recording turned foul, the temperature in the room fell as rage overcame Luna's features. Celestia looked as if she were having a crisis of faith.

“Have we truly turned so dark? What happened to my little ponies?”

Luna failed to hide an open toothed sneer as the recording ended. “It seems some ponies need to be reminded how to be decent.”

“I recognise that mare!” Hard Tac called out. “That's the nurse, Poppy, she works in the fuckin’ castle!” The captain was almost as angry as Luna. Almost.

Calling the guards in, Celestia made the polite request that both Jack and Poppy be collected and brought to the meeting room. As the order was being issued, both Flitter and Tac shared a look of recognition over how ugly things could turn. Tac however, was the only one to voice his opinion. “Princess Celestia, ma’am. With all due respect, I think it's going to be a very bad idea to have those two in the same room.”

For her part, Celestia looked utterly unsurprised. “I am aware, Captain. Precautions will be taken, and I need to see what he does.” The pair of military ponies next to her fought to keep straight faces, while Luna felt no such need.

“Sister. Perhaps we should discuss such things prior to ordering them, don't you think?” Luna shifted in her chair, her eyes focusing on her elder sister entirely.

Celestia sighed softly as she looked to Luna and the others around her. “If he is going to be properly joining the Equestrian military, teaching our soldiers, and leading special operations, we need to know that he is mentally sound and able to control himself in utterly despicable situations.”

Grunting under her breath, Luna sat back and adopted a very displeased look. “Thank you for admitting to what this travesty is.”

For the first time since greeting Flitter, Sable spoke up as he organised his notes and files. “For all intents and purposes, this will give us a very effective means in seeing how he deals with stressful situations.”

Before any further comment could be made, the doors to the room swung open and the subject of their discussion strode in with a mildly irritated look on his disheveled features. Covered in dirt and flecks of mud, Jack was flushed and sweaty. “What's going on T? I'm a bit busy-” He paused halfway through his sentence, his eyes flicking over the group before him as he came to a stop in the middle of the room.

Clearing her throat, Celestia fixed him with a monarch’s stare. “Staff Sergeant, please refer to myself and my sister by our proper titles, it's unbecoming and disrespectful from someone of your rank.” She spent a moment to consider her next words as he went from a relaxed stance to a more professional one as his old training finally seeped in.

With his features becoming expressionless, Jack nodded once as he laced his dirty fingers behind his back. “Of course, Princess. I apologise.” His tone was clipped quickly, but his eyes still questioned them. He got his answer when the doors opened again and a pair of guards escorted Nurse Gallipoli into the room.

His demeanour immediately changed the moment his eyes met hers, and at that moment in time Celestia quietly asked herself if she was going to have to witness a murder. Gone was any trace of slack and unprofessionalism, replaced by a terrible intensity that was born from a deep ingrained hatred that flared like a rocket. He was like a tensed spring with murderous intentions, and she would have to head them off before his mind came up with a viable excuse for violence. “Staff Sergeant, do you recognise this mare?”

His voice came out a low, measured drawl. “Yeeaah.” His eyes didn't leave Poppy’s, and the mare was showing open discomfort at the predatory intensity.

“What's this about princess, I haven't done anything wrong!” Poppy protested loudly as she slowly shrank away from the man across from her. Her words caused Jack’s nostrils to flare and the others present to hide their own dislike for her.

Celestia had no inclination to hide her distaste. “Poppy Gallipoli, you are accused of inequine treatment of humans, unlawful detainment of humans, and sexual assault. How do you plead?”

Both pony and human seemed to be physically struck with the accusation, but it was Jack's silent reaction that cut the deepest in Flitter's mind. His attention snapped away from Poppy and to the group, where his expression of mixed horror and pain caused them to become unsettled. Flitter felt an immediate wash of shame as his eyes silently questioned ‘how could you tell them? Why?’

Poppy collected herself swiftly; her fearful expression falling away like a mask to reveal uncaring eyes. “I didn't do anything illegal. This is unlawful detainment and I demand my lawyer be present for any further discussion.”

Fighting the urge to jump from his seat and throttle the ugly creature before him, Hard Tac decided on an open sneer. “lawyer my ass… We've got a recording talisman that says differently, we watched the whole thing. We know what you did.” Tac almost immediately regretted his words as Jack's features fell further into shame and disgust with himself. The look was covered by military training in an instant, but Tac had seen it, as had the others.

A near smirk slipped onto Poppy's face as she looked over toward the Captain. “I didn't do anything wrong.”

“So you admit that you abused the Staff Sergeant during his incarceration?” Princess Celestia placed her hooves together as she stared levelly at the mare.

“My lawyer-”

“Isn't coming.” Celestia answered coldly. “It is my right as your ruler to decide that, and you don't have the privilege of one today.” Luna's eyes briefly flicked toward her sister in worried questioning, but nothing was said between them. “I want a confession of your guilt Miss Gallipoli, so we can begin your reparations.”

With a roll of her eyes, Poppy almost seemed to relax. “I'm sorry princess, but legally, I didn't do anything wrong. Sure, if he had been a pony, it would be illegal. If he had been one of our normal humans, it would be illegal. But he isn't. He's one of those Terran humans, and they don't have any rights. What I did wasn't illegal in the slightest.” She glanced over toward Jack as his his fury slowly rose. “Heck, he wasn't even that good of a lay.” The mare allowed her smirk to remain as the gathered group before her all showed their mutual disgust openly.

With grave features, Celestia sat back in her seat and considered her options. Luna shifted toward her and hissed. “Is this true? No laws exist to protect them?”

Nodding once, Celestia took on a briefly apologetic look. “Not entirely, no. Some exist, and more were going to be enacted, but unfortunately as of right now she is right. This doesn't mean we're powerless. On the contrary.” Celestia looked back toward Jack, who’s eyes flicked up to meet hers. She felt a pang of guilt as she saw him straining. “Staff Sergeant Kessle, you are the injured party in all this, what would you like done?”

Immediately Poppy spoke up as Jack blinked in surprise. “He doesn't get to decide that kind of thing! I'm not guilty of anything here! I-”

“THOU WILL BE SILENT, SCOUNDREL!” Luna bellowed, cowing the mare immediately and causing Jack's eyes to widen in open surprise. “You mistake benevolence for complacency, but make no mistake that myself and my sister hold absolute power in this kingdom, and that our word is utter and final!” The Princess's ethereal mane whipped and thrashed as she spoke; several of the stars within flashed and flared to mirror her broiling fury. Her eyes flicked back to Jack and she spoke authoritatively. “What would you have done?”

With his knuckles popping under strain as he clenched his fists into tight balls, Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets as he did his damndest to avoid even looking at the mare. “I don't care what you do to her. Make her pay or strip titles, I could care less.” He feigned nonchalance as his eyes stared off beyond the five before him.

Celestia eyed Jack cautiously for a moment before making her decision. “Poppy Gallipoli, you are hereby fined ten thousand bits in damages, and your medical license is stripped. You will never work in the medical industry again.”

“You can't do that! You can't! I have a foal and a husband to support!”

“Then consider yourself lucky he didn't ask you to be jailed.” Celestia answered coldly. “For your heinous actions, the punishment will be meted immediately. May this be a lesson to you, Poppy Gallipoli. Guards, remove her from Royal grounds.”

Poppy cried out in indignation as the guards grabbed onto her and dragged her off. Jack watched as her hooves skittered and slid across the polished marble. He watched until the doors closed behind her, and his eyes remained on the doors for some time before Luna cleared her throat. “Jack?”

He idly turned his head toward them; his features held little emotion, and his voice carried the same level. “Are we done here?”

Celestia leaned forward on her seat ever so slightly. “Unfortunately, no. Jack, I would like you to meet Doctor Sable. He's a royal psychiatrist and he will be aiding us in our work with you. You will be meeting with him in his room every Tuesday at four, and he has the clearance to accompany you through the castle if he deems it necessary. Your body guards can take you to his room when the time comes.” She watched as Sable lifted a hoof in greeting, only to be ignored as Jack fished his PDA from one of his pockets and plugged in the data.

“Great.” He rumbled. “That it?”

With a sigh, Celestia nodded. “Yes, we are done here Staff Sergeant. You are dismissed.” He spun on his heels toward the door, and began to immediately walk toward them, his pace only interrupted when Celestia spoke again. “Staff Sergeant?” He paused at the door, waiting for her word. “I apologise for what happened, and for subjecting you to such unneeded stress.”

His fists clenched and he still didn't turn to face them. The moment the princess finished speaking, he continued out the door without a word.

Shaking his head, Hard Tac looked toward the princesses. “Permission to speak freely?”

“Denied.” Celestia looked toward the Captain. “You will be working with Doctor Sable regarding the Staff Sergeant's condition, I expect you to harbour his requests, should he have any. You're dismissed, Captain.”

Without pause Tac stood from his seat and saluted with a snap. “Thank you ma'am.” He immediately followed after Jack in hopes of heading off any self destructive activities.

Sighing lightly as he scribbled down notes and thoughts, Sable glanced up at the princesses and Flitter. “Today was… eye opening. I'll have a preliminary report ready by the end of the day, Princess Celestia.” He turned his attention to Flitter as he smiled. “Could I interest you in lunch?”

“No, no thank you. I've lost my appetite.” Flitter shook her head, before standing. She cast a glanced over toward Luna, who gave her a nod and silent permission to leave. Getting up and following after Hard Tack and Jack, Flitter could only hope that Jack wouldn't redirect his anger somewhere unhealthy.

______________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere in the castle, Jack's boot heels quietly squeaked across the marble in his room as he paced back and forth with a lot cigarette dangling from his lips. The stress was beginning to cut deeply as he fought to keep his anger in check.

“It was a test!” He muttered hotly to himself. “Hang the meat before the dog and see if he snaps, is that all I am? Huh?” His features twisted as anger seeped into his mind like a toxin. “Motherfucker!” In a bout of rage he lashed out, kicking his chair across the room before running his dirty fingers through his long hair. “FUCK!” Unfiltered anger began to flood his system, causing him to shudder and twitch erratically as he fought to control himself. He sucked back the remainder of the cigarette, leaving only the smouldering butt squashed between his lips. He flicked it out the open window and cursed as the nicotine did nothing to calm his nerves. There was a knock at his door and a single silent moment passed before his anger met it. “I'm busy!”

Despite his words, the door swung open and Taven trotted into the room. He looked over the shattered chair, then to Jack. “You need a hoof sir?”

Scoffing lightly in mock amusement, Jack waved a hand and opened his mouth to tell the stallion off, to tell him to leave him alone, but the words died in his throat. Leaning against his desk heavily as the anger ebbed momentarily, he chuckled weakly. “I want to go for a run. Get some fresh air and clear my head.”

“Would you like me to come along?” Taven asked lightly as his ears flicked. The man in front of him stank of stress, sweat, and nicotine.

Jack nodded a little bit too jerkily for his own liking as he pulled on his exo skeleton. “Yeah. Don't let me go near any bars.” He rubbed at his arms as the exo plugs buried themselves deep into his muscles. “I want to think straight.” His hand paused over the butt of his revolver, and he slowly closed his eyes as he suppressed his thoughts. Leaving the weapon on the table and his holster empty, Jack shook his head and turned to Taven. “Sound good?”

Nodding, Taven smiled lightly. “How far are we going?”

He was answered with a stressed shrug. “As far as I need to.” Nodding in understanding, Taven began to strip out of his heavy armour; leaving a small dagger strapped to his right hind leg. He flapped his leathery wing for a moment before grimacing and gesturing toward the door. Without a word passing between them, the pair exited the room and began a quick walk toward the doors.

As the pair walked toward the grand entrance, Jack's eyes flicked to the side and caught sight of Flitter and Hard Tac approaching. They both held looks of concern on their features, but Flitter's was considerably more pronounced. Hard Tac waved a hoof as they approached. “Hey, wait up a minute, Jack.”

“I'm a little busy.” He answered stiffly as he returned his gaze to the doors and continued his approach.

Flitter called out as they drew closer. “Jack, please, we just want to talk-”

“We don't have anything to talk about.” Taven glanced up at Jack as he roughly grasped the door handles and pushed the grand doors wide open.

“Jack! Don't run away from this, please!” Flitter pleaded, and was rewarded with Jack stopping dead in his tracks and spinning on his heels to face them.

As he treaded toward the pair, Jack pointed at them both and let loose a fraction of his anger. It came out in a perfectly calculated voice and flat, measured tone. “Let me be clear, I'm not running from a goddamn thing. I'm going for a run to clear my head after that slap to the face y’all fuckin dragged me into without any warning.” The pair before him deflated slightly, with Flitter looking hurt and Tac taking on a miffed expression. Jack continued on. “We have nothing to talk about.” He emphasised hotly. “I'll be back. Don't wait up.”

Taven flapped his wing and cantering to catch up with Jack as he treaded hotly out of the castle and into the pleasantly warm sunlight. As they began to walk toward the main gate, Taven spoke. “Rough day?”

Nodding in agreement with the question, Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, you could say that. Try to keep pace.” Without further pause, Jack set off at a brisk jog to warm himself up, before picking up speed as they hit the main road out of Canterlot. His legs began to pump harder, propelling him down the road at slowly increasing speeds. Taven soon was forced to run at full gallop to simply keep up with Jack's machine-like strides. Groups of ponies moved to the side for the human as he ran, while the occasional Equestrian human made an attempt to follow. Soon enough, the edge of Canterlot was behind him, and Jack let himself go. Pushing his body as far as it could go Jack took off down the road; Taven became hard-pressed to keep a decent pacing with Jack as the road pounded away under his striding feet.

Eventually, Jack began to slow his pace until he came to a standstill some six kilometers from Ponyville. Taven soon slowed and stopped next to him on the worn dirt road; Jack panted lightly as he ran the back of his hand over his forehead, the stress of the day bleeding away in the form of sweat and pain. Choosing a shady spot under a large tree by the road, Jack slowly walked over toward it as Taven followed. The pair sat down, and some time passed before either spoke.

“Are you religious Taven?” Jack asked quietly as he rested his hands on his knees.

Quirking a brow as he rested next to Jack in the grass, Taven shrugged as he panted. “I couldn't really say.”

With a quiet huff of begrudging amusement, Jack smirked and nodded. “Fair enough… on earth, most of the population is religious to some degree. “ He paused for a long moment. “You know… I was always told that God, my God, had a plan for everyone, that he would watch out for you if you were pious enough and all that shit. “ He sank into the grass and looked up at the tree above them. “I think his plan for me is either twisted comedic relief, or some kind of long drawn out snuff film.”

“I think you don't give yourself enough credit sir.” Taven said as he tucked his legs underneath himself.

“Huh.” Jack rested his hands on his stomach for a long time as his eyes remained skyward. “I'm… I'm just tired, man…” He grunted in mild surprise as Taven thumped his head down onto Jack’s stomach like a tired dog, before looking up at him with his ears flicking. A soft ‘hah’ escaped Jack as he looked back up to the sky and slowly scratched the stallion's ears and petted him.

What felt like hours passed until the sun began to set, setting the sky ablaze with reds and vibrant oranges. Jack sat up and cast a long gaze off toward the gleaming city in the distance. “I guess we better get moving…”

Looking up from his spot on Jack's lap, Taven shrugged again, though secretly he didn't want to run back, uphill. “We're closer to Ponyville, let's just catch the train back.”

Jack nodded in agreement and slowly got to his feet before dusting himself off. “Good plan.” He paused for a moment as he considered his hands. “Hey, Taven?”

The stallion looked up toward Jack with curious eyes as he pulled his leathery wing in close. “Yes sir?”

“I appreciate what you're doin’ for me. What everyone is doing. I know sometimes it doesn't look like it, but I do.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared forward toward the village ahead of them.

Giving Jack's thigh a bump with with flank, Taven managed to keep his smile in check as they walked toward town. “That's what friends are for, Jack.”

“Hah… yeah, yeah I guess you're right.” Jack managed the ghost of a smile before glancing back at Taven. “If you even think about breaking into song, I'll hit you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it sir.” Taven said briskly as they walked. Five minutes later, he began humming a catchy tune that quickly burrowed into Jack's head like a tick.

As the words formed in Jack's head, filling in the tune, he scowled at the bat pony at his side. “Y’all are evil little fuckers.” He shook his head. “I mean seriously, why in god's name does an entire species need to have the ability to break into spontaneous song at the drop of a hat? That's some nasty tomfuckery.”

Shrugging innocently, Taven failed to hide his small grin. “What can I say? We're more productive with music.” He began to sing softly, much to Jack's chagrin.

“I hate you.”

“I thought you said you really appreciated everything I was doing?” Taven asked with a slick smile that was answered with a scowl.

“And you're making me regret every goddamn one of those words.”

Eventually, the pair made it back to Canterlot, despite arriving late into the night and to a nearly empty castle. Parting for the night, Taven changed shifts with a quiet Mythic and set off to find his bed. Passing by the training grounds, Taven slowed his pace to look over the recently excavated ground. He hadn't the foggiest idea of what exactly Jack was planning, but he was sure that it would be the bane of every single recruit to come through the castle doors.

Author's Notes:

Alright, this chapter took way too long to come out, and that's all to blame on me. I forgot my phone for a shift, so I was unable to update. Anyways, I'm hoping to get another 1-2 chapters posted within these next two weeks.